Spring Cleaning
by XxGalaxyUnicornLovexX
Summary: It's finally Springtime, and that means one important thing for Maddie. On the other hand, her husband has different plans in mind. (For Reade-Queen-of-Versailles)


It was currently Springtime, a time known for its bloom and excessive growth of flowers. Birds, butterflies, and bees mostly enjoyed what the season offered them. The nectar and pollen was what they desired, but they needed it. Unlike them, Madeline had a far different reason for Spring being her favorite season. Because of more plants growing, she had more ingredients for her tea. Some were used for recipes she already had, but sometimes she experimented with new ones making new recipes. Maddie liked tea more than anything and her husband, Humphrey, did too. More likely, he got accustomed to always drinking it with her, but he didn't mind it as long as his wife stayed happy.

As Maddie waited for his return, she figured with her freetime she would go pick some tea ingredients and prepare some. Outside the backyard, Maddie grabbed her trusty wheelbarrow and thought of what she needed. Dandelions blew wishes (according to her), Chickweeds inspired by King Benedict (Humphrey's chicken), Clovers meant for luck, Chicory because of its color, Fireweed added to drink near the fireplace on a cool night, Wood Sorrel for a slightly sour taste, and Field pennycress (an excessive plant that grew in the yard). These were Maddie's personal preferred ingredients for adding to her tea, and although she could have used some of these edibles in food too, she didn't. Humphrey had mixed feelings when he realized his wife has been using plants from the backyard and felt it wasn't sanitary, but Maddie assured him profusely that it was. She was positive that it was safe and to make sure of it, she washed off any dirt or other contaminants that could have affected it. Am ordinary person may have made normal tea like it was supposed to be prepared, but that was one thing Maddie wasn't. She was far from normal and that was the main reason for the mad personality that was portrayed from her. And besides that, she hated normal tea. After she got greeted by King Benedict and she finished picking what she needed, Maddie went back inside the house. After such a long day of working, she was sure Humphrey would've liked to settle down and relax, and with some tea. She rinsed off some chicory and wood sorrel in the sink, and once done with that proceeded to add them into one of her many teapots. This teapot however was simple, only the color being white and oriented with a flower design in the middle. Once the tea was prepared, Maddie poured it in matching tea cups that were also designed the same way as the teapot. She set them down upon the table waiting for her husband to come back. A knock was bestowed to the door, and she got up to open it and was greeted by Humphrey. "Humphrey," Maddie squealed excidelty before pulling him into a tight hug. Her lovingly affections were common and he didn't feel he would ever grow tired of it. "So, what have you been doing?" Humphrey asked. "Oh, I've picked some of the plants in the garden. I also made Green Spring Tea for both of us. It's my first time making it." She gestured him to the kitchen table and gave him one of the teacups. He took a sip and was surprised by how well it was made considering she said it was her first time making this particularly tea. "Wow, it's surprisingly good! What did you make this with?" Maddie just put her teacup down and giggled, happy with the response he gave her. "Chicory and a tad bit of wood sorrel." She was far more smarter than he thought, and she was certainly a tea expert if he had to say so himself. "How do you know so much about what you pick? I would expect someone like you to just grab random things you see like grass, but you don't." "Well, it kinda is random. Not really, I just experiment to see what tastes right and what doesn't." "Oh come on, how could you even say that. You tell me one time your tea hasn't been exceptional." They just both laughed at that, it was true. Not only Humphrey, but her former friends at Ever After High always enjoyed her tea too and never once complained about its quality.

"So did you do any cleaning today," he wondered taking another sip of his tea. "Clean? I've been so busy. But why would I anyways, the house is as clean as a bee's knees. Considering that bees don't have knees however, I guess you can say their wings because why would they be dirty!" That was the logic of Maddie's mind. She had a tendency to say odd statements. Humphrey understood some of it, but sometimes it made absolutely no sense. He just sighed and continued speaking, "I'm sorry, that's not what I meant. Let me explain. Around this time, people tend to do spring cleaning. "Clean spring? How do you do that?" Humphrey gave a light chuckle. There were many new things that he was always teaching his wife that she had no idea about. Just because Maddie didn't however, that hadn't meant she didn't try to interpret what it meant. "No, you don't clean spring. I'm not even sure how you would do that. It just means to clean up your home." That made far more sense to her than what she just told him. "I think I get it now, but why do you have to clean in Spring? Does that mean you can't clean up in any other season?" "Hmm, that's an interesting question. I'm not sure to be honest. Maybe because it's an appropriate time to do so. It's not too cold or not too hot, making the atmosphere just right." Although Humphrey may have thoroughly explained the meaning to her, Maddie still didn't quite understanded exactly what you did. _What were you supposed to clean_? Her husband noticed an unsure expression on her face and wasn't sure why. He had answered everything she asked so what was not to get. Humphrey thinked he finally knew and got up from the table and grabbed himself a notepad and a pen. "Why don't we write down what to tidy up, and we'll just go from there. Does that sound good?" Maddie nodded.

Once they wrote it down and discussed it, he ripped the paper out and gave it to her to read. The plan was both of them had an equal portion of the house to clean. While he would be doing the living room and the kitchen, Maddie would simply do the bedrooms and the bathrooms. Humphrey got to work with that and she did her share of it. She scrubbed down the tubs and toilets, tidied the dresser drawers and its contents, and organized the clothing in the closets. Maddie had never realized how many hats she had. Once she had sorted out her hats, she was finished after a long assortment of chores. Humphrey looked around their bedroom and saw the progress of what she'd done. "Looks good. Are you done? I just finished." She wiped the sweat that dripped from her face and responded back. "Yes, but I'm so tired though. That was really hard. I've never done so much cleaning in my entire life." "Come on, let's go have a warm bath and then we could go to bed." Maddie smiled at him and followed her husband to the bathroom, happy that this was over and she could settle down.


End file.
